Astrid Williamson - Here Come The Vikings

Astrid Williamson has made a brave departure from the slower tempos of folk, allowing her song writing to expand into uncharted territory, and the results range from the echo-laden jams of Snake, to the balladry of How You Take My Breath Away. Elsewhere, Williamson travels even further afield; on Eve, she’s transformed into a sultry jazz-siren, whereas Store finds her wailing like a female Thom Yorke. Underpinning this genre-hopping, however, are Williamson's arresting vocals, which, coupled with the album’s arrangements, recall Joni Mitchell’s Mingus, rocked-up for a more raucous era. In fact, whilst the folky image of acoustic guitars may suit her Shetland roots, the epic and trippy Pinned evokes the violence of the North Sea much more suitably, its Edge-like guitars ricocheting around the song like an Atlantic wave. Overall, it’s an album that proves that to label Williamson a folkie is to underestimate the scope and intensity of her talent.